Feb 5, 2015

The New York Times

Feb 4, 2015

"Josue tries to reclaim his narrative with this intimate, positive portrait, but while Shepard's brave and resourceful parents encourage her, they realized long ago that his death means he no longer belongs solely to them."

Feb 4, 2015

Josue made the film – and the Shepards helped, giving her access to boxes of Matthew's packed-away old letters, journals, postcards and home movies – because all three feared Matthew becoming an emblem known only for how he died.

-by Sandra Sobieraj Westfall

For more of PEOPLE's interview with Judy and Dennis Shepard, pick up the February 16th issue of PEOPLE on newsstands on Friday.

Feb 4, 2015

Jan 31, 2015

"The Matt Shepard everyone remembers is properly eulogized, but the film deliberately permits a lingering sense of the person he was never able to become, and that's a wound no remembrance, however fond, will ever heal."

Jan 29, 2015

"Viewers hear more about who he was and how he had changed throughout the years, getting a glimpse of how he lived instead of only how he died. It helps them see the true depth of the tragedy and the terrible cost of hatred."

Nov 26, 2014

"Both Josue and Judy Shepard said they were touched by the opportunity to speak with Russians about the struggles faced by LGBT people and their families, including a meeting in St. Petersburg with a group of parents, primarily mothers, with LGBT children."

Nov 20, 2014

"Josue has presented her film in several countries, but she said none of the others had a climate as hostile to gays as Russia. 'We've been preaching to the choir,' she said. 'It's important to get our film seen by a community that didn't have access to it.'"

Nov 18, 2014

"The Shepards, whose son, then a 21-year-old student at University of Wyoming, was murdered in October 1998 in one of the highest-profile LGBT hate-crime cases, will attend the Nov. 24 screening of Michele Josue's documentary Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine at the Bok o Bok (Side by Side) festival."

Nov 17, 2014

"As the years passed, I watched a younger generation come of age that was oblivious to the tragedy of Matt’s story. I felt an increasing urgency to tell his story and have the world reconnect with Matt in a more human way and for young people to learn his story for the very first time."

Aug 4, 2014

"By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears."

-by Derek Schwartz

the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

By the time the lights came up after the screening at the Chilmark Community Center last Wednesday of Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, most of the audience was in tears. - See more at: http://mvgazette.com/news/2014/08/04/tragic-story-continues-touch-and-change-lives?k=vg53fbdaad3b85f&r=1#sthash.T1cFfrUJ.dpuf

Jul 31, 2014

"This accomplished film — poignant, revealing, powerful in its anger, grief and humanity — reminds us 15 years later what his friends, family and the world lost when Shepard was beaten to death in a notorious hate crime."

May 23, 2014

Watch filmmaker Michele Josue and Dennis and Judy Shepard on Global’s The Morning Show. “We wanted people to know that Matt was a human being, not some perfection of good taste and manners because he really wasn’t all that. He was a great kid but he was not perfect.”

May 23, 2014

"I stop and wonder, 'How far along would we be if Matt hadn't died, to bring a focus to the treatment and the indignities that the gay community was receiving? Would we still be back 15 years, 20 years, back where we were, or would we still move forward?' I don't know."

Apr 1, 2014

“Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine,” the documentary about the young gay man whose brutal murder in 1998 inspired a generation of gay activists, won the festival’s top prize: The Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award.

Mar 5, 2014

"There have been a lot of films and plays and projects in the last decade about Matthew Shepard, but this is clearly an intimate portrait, clearly they had unprecedented access to stories and videos and diaries and I think it's going to be a very memorable part of the festival."

Feb 14, 2014

"I can’t recommend it enough. It is a beautiful tribute, and one that caused me to bring an image of Shepard smiling to my head as readily as the image of him crucified on a fence. That movie made me fully lose it, and as a nonparent, it’s the closest I have ever come to feeling what it would be like to lose a child."

Nov 24, 2013

I had the honor to interview Michele Josue, friend of Matthew Shepard and director of Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine..." Michele Josue’s voice echoes the narration of the film. Your heart breaks for her loss...To say I was honored to do this interview is putting it mildly.

Nov 14, 2013

"Matthew Shepard isn't just a pop culture and political reference, martyred for his sexuality and iconised; he was also a young man with friends and family who loved him, with quirks and secrets, and with a story worth hearing. Do whatever you can to see this touching portrayal."

Nov 11, 2013

"With his murder, Matthew Shepard became a public figure, and in Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine Josue shows an intimate portrait of a young man full of promise, conflicts, doubts, and love–a friend whose life impacted everyone who knew him and whose death has impacted millions more."

Oct 31, 2013

"Matthew Shepard has become emblematic of the battles for human rights and against hate crimes. His friends also would like you to know that Shepard laughed with his whole body and was a political junkie addicted to CNN."

Oct 22, 2013

Radio interview with filmmaker Michele Josue. "Just over fifteen years ago, on October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a twenty-one year old gay college freshman, was tied to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming, savagely beaten by two young men and left for dead.He never regained consciousness and six days later he died of his injuries. Now, fifteen years later, filmmaker Michele Josue has directed a documentary she calls simply, Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine recounting her memories of the person she knew so well in high school."

Oct 17, 2013

Oct 15, 2013

"Jeffrey Longhofer, director of the Tyler Clementi Center, said the film reminds people that anti-gay hate still exists. It shows that even though the LGBT community and its allies have made progress since Shepard’s death, inequality and hate crimes still continue to affect these communities.

“It think it’s a film that helps us imagine the distance that we have traveled since Matt’s tragic murder 15 years ago to the present and how much further we have to go,” he said."

Oct 13, 2013

"Though framed through a very personal lens, MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE tells a universal story that highlights the responsibility we have now to make sure young people around the world are not at risk of falling victim to the same story ending Matt was."

Oct 12, 2013

"I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to tell Matt's story in the honest, sensitive, and dignified way that it deserves to be told. As Matt's friend, I am forever grateful to have this opportunity to stand up for him, alongside his family and friends and countless supporters around the world, as he is not here to stand up for himself."

Oct 9, 2013

"A friend of Shepard from his boarding-school days in Switzerland, Josue goes beyond the conventional depiction of her classmate and confidant, filling in the gaps with in-depth interviews and never-before-seen photographs and home movies from those who knew Matt best. The result is a deeply personal film about who Matt Shepard really was, and the legacy created by his death."

Oct 9, 2013

"But, watching Michele’s film with Chris, an openly gay, 20-year-old sitting next to me along with Nikkita Jackson, my dear friend who is a young independent lesbian of color, made me realize that Matthew Shepard’s legacy lives on through his parents, brother, and through his friends, like Michele, who brought her friend Matt to me and anyone else fortunate to watch her film."

Oct 8, 2013

"Shepard’s murder also came as director Kimberly Peirce was heading into production on Boys Don’t Cry, the 1999 film based on the true story of transgendered teen Brandon Teena — a role that launched the career of Hilary Swank who won the Oscar for playing a girl who lived like a boy and liked girls. Here’s Peirce’s thoughtful taped intro of the docu that will run tomorrow ahead of the screening, sponsored by nonprofit Facing History."

Oct 2, 2013

"Josue's film is sensitive and personal. She is clearly trying to find closure - even as, 15 years on, she's married and enjoying a successful career in Los Angeles working in the film industry. Her journey to and discovery of Wyoming - a place she had never been before Shepard's funeral in Casper - is as compelling a component in the film as details of the killing and trial."

Sep 26, 2013

"One of the most famous hate crimes in recent history, the beating, torture and murder of Matthew Shepard, is recounted in Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine...through the sometimes sweet, often agonizing memories of his high school friend Michele Josue."

Sep 25, 2013

"'Matthew Shepard Is A Friend of Mine' explores who Shepard was as a person, rather than the sensationalized LGBT rights icon he eventually became, through interviews with his family and close friends."

Sep 20, 2013

Sep 19, 2013

"Matt Shepard Is A Friend Of Mine is an emotional 89-minute tale, exploring the life and tragic death of Shepard through a truly personal lens. Josue is the filmmaker, which includes director, producer and editor, and the movie shows pivotal locations in Shepard's life, plus countless interviews with other friends of his, plus family members."

"The moving tribute to Shepard, in the words and pictures that Josue chose to include, are perfect."

Sep 18, 2013

"Those close to Matthew Shepard have come to talk about the difference between "Matt," as his parents and loved ones knew him, and "Matthew Shepard," the name synonymous with the symbol he has become. The former is what filmmaker Michele Josue sought to portray in her debut feature-length documentary, Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine, which follows Josue (who was a close friend of Matt's) as she travels to pivotal locations in Shepard's life. As Josue interviews other friends and family members, we viewers gain insight into the beautiful life as well as the devastating loss of both "Matt" and "Matthew Shepard."

Sep 17, 2013

12 Movies To Watch at the 36th Annual Mill Valley Film Festival

"Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine: It's been 15 years since the devastating death of Matt Shepard — but it is fresh in our heads. Filmmaker and friend of Matt, Michele Josue, gives us an in-depth look at Matt's life and how his death had a significant impact on not only the gay community, but the world."

Aug 16, 2013

"With her upcoming independent feature documentary film, Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine, filmmaker Michele Josue has set out to tell the story of her friend Matthew Shepard’s life and tragic death through the lens of those who knew him best."